...so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God
and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.
(1 Thessalonians 3:13)
A pharmacist recently told me that the vast majority of prescriptions she fills
—by far—are for antidepressants. The reasons for depression might be many.
For some, circumstances in life have relentlessly beaten them down until their
vision inevitably darkened. For others, chronic physical pain has fed an ongoing
frustration or suppressed anger. It may be guilt over past actions that changed
life for the worse. But among the anguished cries of those who suffer is the
plaintive plea of failed expectations: “I'm not who I want to be,” or should be, or
could be, or used to be.
We should quickly note that depression and faith are apples and oranges. In
other words, depression does not signal a lack of faith any more than optimism
indicates God's favor. Christians who are strong in faith may see only a world of
dust and gristle. If you want proof straight from the Bible, look at Jeremiah.
Actually, it's hard to see any of the Old Testament prophets as a happy lot.
Even so, it's a huge temptation for those who are depressed to infer they are
cut off from God. Depression and its causes (injury, guilt, etc.) all conspire to
convince the victim that God is loveless; or if God is loving, the victim isn't
whole enough to properly love or believe in return. It can feel as though his
heart is far too bruised and blemished to be anywhere near God's mercy.
Depressed or not, here is news to cling to: your heart is blameless. It's
blameless because it doesn't depend on you. It depends upon your Savior. He
has come in the flesh to save you wholly, to restore you for eternity in body,
soul and mind. The pains of your body do not reflect the condition of your heart:
before God, for Jesus' sake, your heart is whole and blameless. The dark tunnel
of thoughts are no reflection of your heart, which is firmly fixed by faith in the
light of Christ.
We often give thanks that Christ's works are far more certain than our own,
which are tainted by sin and evil motive. We give thanks, too, that the Lord's
thoughts toward us are far more sure than our own thoughts about ourselves.
Rest in this certain truth: in Christ, your heart is blameless and whole, and so
deliverance and healing are coming.
In God, my faithful God, I trust when dark my road;
Tho' many woes o'ertake me, Yet He will not forsake me.
His love it is doth send them And when 'tis best will end them.
(TLH 526:1)
